Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy last night shot down rumours loan star Justin Hoyte is about to be recalled by Arsenal.

Hoyte wasn't even on the bench as the Wearsiders went down 2-0 at West Ham yesterday.

And with Arsenal in the midst of a defensive personnel crisis, sources in London were claiming Hoyte was on his way home.

But the Black Cats boss said: "I left out Justin and Tommy Miller to freshen things up - and there's no danger of Justin Hoyte going back to Arsenal before the end of the season.

"We have an agreement with Arsenal which lasts the season - and Justin is not going anywhere until then."

Remarkably upbeat, the Black Cats boss praised his players' fighting spirit - and revealed he is enjoying his job as much as ever.

"I've said to the players again that it's no good any of us feeling sorry for ourselves, because we should all think ourselves lucky to be in football, one of the best jobs in the world," he added.

"Personally speaking, I wouldn't want to be doing a journalist's job, the ref's job, the bus driver's job. I've got the next best job to the players themselves - and if it turns out we're not good enough, then at least we can make sure we give our best by playing like we did today."

He went on: "I had no arguments with the sending-off because they were two silly challenges from Stephen Wright, who, understandably after being out for so long, struggled a bit with Etherington's pace.

"But I'd like to see more referees applying this mythical amber card which I keep hearing about, where players already on a yellow card get a severe reprimand before they get shown a second one.

"I've seen refs show that sort of leniency at other places, but not here - which is typical of the sort of luck we've had this season.

"It changed the game, because I thought we had started well enough. But we did very well with 10 men after that - far better then we did against Middlesbrough with 11 last Tuesday night. So perhaps it's a ploy we should try more often!

"When they had that goal disallowed for offside I thought we'd nicked a point, because apart from Ashton's header they hadn't had any real attempts on our goal. But it wasn't to be.

"But there was a pride in themselves, in this club and in the shirts they wore, which is pleasing - and I've never had to criticise them for lacking that all season really."

West Ham boss Alan Pardew admitted it was a difficult afternoon for his team, and he praised Sunderland for the fighting qualities they displayed.

"In the end it was about the quality we were able to bring off the bench," insisted Pardew.

"I said to Dean Ashton before the game I had a great record with strikers who I have bought scoring on their home debuts - and I'm delighted he's maintained my record!

"But I thought Sunderland were brilliant today. You simply couldn't fault their attitude and application. After what they've been through this season, that is tremendous credit to them as a group of players."